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by Steve "SteveU" Underwood
The annual DyeStat XC Top 25 series (formerly Foot Locker Favorites and renamed given additional options available now) are national and regional rankings of cross-country runners based on distance-running accomplishments to date, with an emphasis on XC and 3200/2M track results, rather than a projection of how the Foot Locker Finals or NXN Finals will turn out (predictions run later in the season).
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Previous Ranking Years
2008
2007
2006
2005
| Girls Dec. 17 - Goethals grabs the top spot ... by a lean: Foot Locker finishes basically decide the top eight.
Boys Dec. 15 - Verzbicas back where he started the season: #1: Decisive Foot Locker win, with NXN champ Lutz in 4th, enough to put Illinois soph on top.
Boys Dec. 11 - Lutz up to #1 as NXN, FL West shake up the rankings: Western runners get big boost from FL West, NXN, as well.
Girls Dec. 11 - Showdown time is here for "Big Four": Majority of ranked stars at FL Finals; NXN and FL West surprises leap into rankings.
Boys Dec. 4 - Lutz up to #2, Cali. stars sort selves out again: Five Foot Locker and NXN regionals, plus CIF Finals, prove impactful on lists.
Girls Dec. 4 - Cuffe new #1 as new "Big Four" preps for San Diego: Quartet's season-long dominance creates national excitement; Stevens twins impress at NXN SE.
Boys Nov. 27 - Rosa, Dohner, Gedyon make big statements: Wills out of Foot Locker, but Lutz and Stinson are in; Verzbicas-Zeinasellassie battle leads FL regional clashes.
Girls Nov. 27 - Top girls prepare for Foot Locker showdown: Current top 7 all doing Foot Locker only; FL Midwest should be the best of qualifiers; FL South intrigues.
Boys Nov. 20 - NXN, Foot Locker divide top boys: 6 of top 8 planning NXN, but 8 of top 12 planning Foot Locker (including doublers).
Girls Nov. 20 - Foot Locker still attracting top girls: Six of top seven, including new #1 Megan Goethals MI, reportedly shooting for San Diego.
Boys Nov. 6 - Look out for Lutz: Texan Craig Lutz moves all the way up to US#5 with devastating run at district meet.
Girls Nov. 6 - State meet quality regardless of gender: Megan Goethals' 17:24 at her region meet last year gets a closer look, moves her up to US#2.
Boys Oct. 30 - Mt. SAC shuffles the deck: Moussa, McElroy, Meddles, Rosales get big pushes from outstanding Mt. SAC races.
Girls Oct. 30 - Grabill grabs the spotlight: Mt. SAC wins for Molly Grabill and Megan Morgan mean big jumps in the rankings.
Boys Oct. 23 - Mt. SAC will sort out ranked Californians: After a quiet week, the Mt. SAC Invite will feature 8 top-25ers, including all six Californians.
Girls Oct. 23 - Lipari, Fluehr score big in a quiet week: New York and Florida stars make big moves with victories in an otherwise uneventful week.
Boys Oct. 16 - Class of 2011 proving unstoppable: Amazingly, 8 of the top 11 harriers in the country are juniors -- and two more are sophs.
Girls Oct. 16 - Settling in for mid-October: The rankings stabilize somewhat as the season turns toward state qualifying in many parts of the country.
Boys Oct. 9 - Too good to ignore: Rosa's amazing 15:04 at Holmdel makes it impossible to keep him from the top spot.
Girls Oct. 9 - Great American confirms rising stars: Carolyn Baskir NC, Samantha Nadel NY show they're not 2nd fiddle to NC and NY rivals, and move up sharply in rankings.
Boys Oct. 2 - Serious rumblings on both coasts: Though Verzbicas and Wills are running well, NJ and CA stars have been the prime movers.
Girls Oct. 2 - Andrews, Cuffe keep battling: The 1-2 finishers from the Pan Am Juniors and USATF Jr 5k keep their summer momentum.
Boys Sept. 18 - Three new faces: Connor Adams TX, Scott Fauble CO, Mohamed Abushouk join ranks. Elias Gedyon CA, Brian Shrader AZ power up list.
Girls Sept. 16 - Frazier leads freshman charge: North Carolina star sets reported state record. Six total new faces on Top 25.
Boys Preseason - Trust the track: Though Lukas Verzbicas and Zach Wills didn't make it to national XC meets last fall, they enter the season 1-2 in the top 25 rankings because of their awesome distance running on the track.
Girls Preseason - Sveinsson, Goethals the girls to beat: Chelsey's NXN and NON titles speak loudly, but to finish on top, she'll have to beat Megan in San Diego; other top girls closely ranked, with N.Y., Cali and Texas stars leading the way.
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